Shed questions

[Spirit]

I've had my python for 2 weeks (tomorrow), and he was (roughly) 2 weeks overdue for his shed.

The humidity in my tank is way too low so I keep a fairly large humid hide in there, which he has spent ALL his time in over the last week (I use forest bark in the humid hide and aspen in the tank). I noticed this morning that he shed only PART of his belly (in the hide), and it came off in patches.

No problem... a 30 minute soak in 80 degree water and a little help from me and I got all the skin off. It might have come off in one piece, but even with the soaking (and the use of herpcare shedding aid), I still had to "pull" a bit around the sides to get it off (the back came off PERFECT). I just CAREFULLY used my thumb and press downwards to remove what I could. It was definitely "sticking" to his body.

Now my question is this. (Okay two questions)

A: Other than humidity being low, what are possible causes for a bad shed (comes off in pieces)? It seemed as though he wasn't producing enough oils between the skin and the body. (I mean the humid hide should have given him a better shed)

B: Does anyone have a picture of what a retained eyecap looks like? How can I tell if there's one there or not?

I have a cornsnake and he's always had a perfect shed (humidity VERY low in his tank) but I did have to help him with the tail once, and after about 5 minutes of soaking, the skin just SLID off (like butter). Now I know these are two VERY different snakes, but is that not how it's SUPPOSED to come off after the snake has been soaking?

I'm headed out today so I'm going to look for a better (digital) hygrometer. The hygrometer in the humid hide reads 65% but you can FEEL the humidity with your hand and the condensation is just rediculous (dripping down the walls). No WAY that's 65%.

Anyway... any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Oh! One more thing. His eyes have been blue for 2 weeks (not normal) but as soon as I introduced the humid hide they turned BRIGHT blue and the shedding process began. BUT his body looked EXACTLY the same before, during, and after his shed. If anything the black is darker, but that's it. I thought pythons get just UGLY during the shed phase.

Does anything I mentioned here sound like reason for concern?

Alright, now I'm just rambling. lol!

Thanks, everyone. :)

[Spirit]

Actually, I'm only REALLY interested in a picture of what a retained eyecap looks like (or a very detailed explanation)... or how to tell if there actually IS one that didn't come off so I don't go around just poking at his eye for nothing.

[mykee]

Reasons for a bad shed:
1. Low humidity
2. Stress
3. Mites and /or ticks
From your history, and the fact that you keep your ball in an aquarium, my guess is low humidity. AND NOW stress for having to "Peel" the shed off. Manually removing a shed should be a last resort. Try a warm, wet pillowcase for 1/2 an hour. Good luck. P.S. Rubbermaids are only $10....

[Spirit]

Well if you noticed, I did mention that he's spent all his time in the humid hide (large tupperare container) since I put it in there almost a week ago AND I soaked him for a good 30 minutes today before GENTLY removing the shed... which is why I was questioning it might be something other than lack of humidity. I'm new to balls, but I'm not new to snakes.

The first thing I did was check for mites and ticks (very healthy looking scales).

But I digress... Eyecaps?

Thanks for the reply, Mykee. :)

[Spirit]

I've been thinking about this.

1. I just checked the humidity in the hide, and my snake is VERY wet (LOTS of condensation) and VERY warm, but the hygrometer reads only 60% humidity (That CAN'T be right) and 87 degrees. I'm concerned about scale rot... Do I have reason to be, and can TOO MUCH humidity cause stress and/or a bad shed?

2. I'm almost 100% positive that stress is not the reason for his bad shed (he's been left alone in a quiet room all week), but I'm not ruling out the posibility. What are possible causes (husbandry-wise) that cause stress (other than the obvious - lack of hides, low humidity, etc)?

[mykee]

Your temps are too low, get that up to at least 90, as high as 95. Other than that, again;
1. Stress
2. Low humidity/low temps
3. Internal parasites (chances are SLIM if your ball is CB or CBB)
4. External parasites
Also, too wet and too cold can cause a respiratory infection and then a bad shed will be the least of your problems.
I would also recommend picking up a book on the captive husbandry of ball pythons and committing it to memory. Good luck.

[Spirit]

Temps are 85 on the cool, 95 on the warm. There is a LARGE hide box (tupperware) in which I keep reptile bark for humidity purposes. Because the tupperware is IN the tank and the UTH is UNDER the tank, the temps in the hide are obviously a bit lower, but he just LOVES his turtle shell hide, and in there, the temps have reached 97, but I try to keep then just below 95.

So what you're saying here, is a humid hide is bad, if the temps are too low? I'll try to remedy that right now.

Thanks.